LARGO, Fla.—A Grow Financial FCU member put his mixed martial arts skills to good use, thwarting an attempted robbery at one the credit union’s offices.
Eric Haritakis, an MMA fighter, was waiting inside the Grow Financial branch on Starkey Road when he noticed the credit union was being robbed.
Authorities reported that Michael Jon Neubecker handed the clerk a note and took off with an undisclosed amount of money.
Haritakis chased down the robber just outside the CU’s doors, took the man to the ground, and after a nearby shopkeeper handed him a roll of duct tape, tied up the suspect until police arrived.
"I saw the right time and I realized that if he had a weapon that he would have drawn it already, Haritakis told WFTS. “I just timed it right and took him down.”
Neubecker was charged with one count of unarmed robbery.